Scratch Lessons for Lesotho

 L2L volunteers have been making digital lessons for the primary school children in rural Lesotho who are using XO laptops at their schools. 

The lessons cover topics in ESL (English as a Second Language), math, science, and cognitive skills.  There are games, instructional lessons, and practice exercises. 


These lessons are customized for the language and academic skills of the children in rural Lesotho, and they use familiar images from  their culture and environment.

A key advantage of using computer lessons to teach standard subjects in Lesotho is that students in overcrowded classroom can repeat a lesson as many times as they need and get instant feedback on their answers.  Scores on screen help teachers see immediately who is struggling with a particular lesson.
 



 
Scratch is a computer program language designed by MIT to help teach children how to program.  It is also highly suitable for creating lessons on XO-1 laptops like we use in Lesotho.  The program code is made up of color-coded blocks that are interlocking.  Children have the option to watch the live action (lesson) while viewing the programming that created it.

You can view a sample of these lessons on the L2L's page on the Scratch website.  To start a lesson, click on the green flag.
https://scratch.mit.edu/users/L2L/projects/ 

Website Updates

I've updated the About Us section of the website. If you think there are other changes that need to be made, noticed some incorrect info, would like to be included, or would like me to add a picture of you, please email me or Janissa and I'll edit it as soon as I can!

We have a NEW Website Address: LaptopsToLesotho.org

Sarah has switched our official home page to a much more memorable website URL:  http://www.laptopstolesotho.org/.  Same look, new address.

We also have new email addresses to go with it:
jbalcomb@laptopstolesotho.org
info@laptopstolesotho.org

Team members:  If you would like an email address through our organization, please let Sarah or me know.

Thanks Sarah for all your hard work!

- Janissa

Our Website Redesigned

Sarah has redesigned our website with a new, classier look.

Click here to check it out >>> Laptops to Lesotho

We need to switch our home page web host

With Sarah graduating soon, we're going to lose our access to the University of Evansville website we are now using as our home page http://homepages.evansville.edu/sb155/index.html.

Sarah will be checking with the university to see if they will allow us to keep the webpage for a couple months until we can switch over to a different web host. Also, she will check on whether the university will provide an automatic re-direct to our new url, once we have it set up.

In the meantime, we need to consider our options. One feature we definitely want is to be able to post multiple pdf's so we can provide access to all our public organization documents.

It looks like WebHostingPad might be a good choice. It gets high marks in several 'top ten' lists and it only costs about $2 per month.

WebHostingPad:
* Winner of 2010 Budget Hosting Award
* WebHostingPad home page

For more information on choosing a web host:
* bestofthewebhosts.com's How Do I Choose a Host?
* TechSoup.org's Learning Center

Top 10 Budget Web Hosts, for under $10:
* bestofthewebhosts.com' Top 10 List
* webhostinggeeks.com's Top 10 List

Comments and suggestions always appreciated!

- Janissa

Laptops To Lesotho Website

The website for our nonprofit organization, Laptops to Lesotho, is up and running! Check it out!

--Sarah

Flurry of Activity before Andrew Leaves

There's been a flurry of emails going around as we all prepare for Andrew's departure from Ketane. There's also been progress on several fronts.

The highlights:
* The US embassy is donating desktop computers to some PCV schools. We'll try to get one or more. Maybe we'll be able to use them as a network server???
* Sarah and Amy are going to contact Lineo to learn more about her and her qualifications.
* Janissa made preliminary contact with a Friends of Lesotho officer about possible funding and got a very positive response.
* The papers necessary for incorporating Laptops to Lesotho have been compiled and Janissa will put them in the mail Friday to the Idaho Secretary of State.
* L2L is still looking for a fourth board member, someone to take over the treasurer duties from Janissa.
* Sarah is designing the website for Laptops to Lesotho.
* Janissa bought prizes for the winners of the naming and logo contest -- book bag and a journal with colored pens, book bag and construction paper with a few art supplies. She will be mailing those to Mapesh on Friday. She also bought a few extra items to use for future contest prizes ... warm gloves, spiral notebooks, colorful pencils, fancy erasers, and pencil sharpeners.
*Ketane school holiday is coming up, but Mapesh will have a laptop during the break so he can stay in touch.
* Andrew will be leaving Lesotho on 3 December but will continue to work on the project, just from a distance.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and Janissa's birthday. Enjoy the day, things are going well!